The invention relates to a method of repairing textured, grained or embossed vinyl sheeting, in situ, or in a shop, to restore torn or damaged areas of the vinyl sheeting with its original pattern without producing a deformation or depression in the repaired area.
More specifically this invention relates to a method for repairing textured vinyl sheeting, by employing an imprinted vinyl mold having the same pattern as the textured vinyl to be repaired, so that the mold may be placed, without pressure, onto heated vinyl repair compound previously placed in the damaged area, to form the pattern therein without producing depressions or deformations in the repaired area.
Because of the nature of vinyl sheeting, tears and rips occur to produce damaged areas. In order to repair damaged areas of vinyl sheeting, a vinyl compound, such as a plastisol, is generally applied to the damaged area and a hot iron is pressed over a grained plate in contact with the compound, or a heat gun is used to give flow characteristics to the vinyl compound and a grained plate is pressed thereover, to facilitate obtaining a grain or texture or embossment in the repair area.
The pressure applied onto the grained plate produces a grained surface in the repair area, however it is not without its problems. Deformation and depression in the repair area is common from the applied pressure, which remains as a permanent feature in the repair area. To overcome this problem, attempts have been made to use a large flat iron to mask the depression. However, other problems arose including distortion to the surrounding areas of the repair and/or destruction of the grained areas. Protective paste has been used on areas surrounding the repair area to aid in maintaining the original grain. This is beneficial, but it does not answer the problem of deformations resulting from applied pressure to obtain the grain in the repair area. Still other attempts to obtain grained effects with vinyl repair include employing release agents to the grained plate or employing vinyl release paper, so that the plate or paper did not adversely stick to the repair area. These attempts also produce problems, one of which is the incomplete adherence of the grained surface to the hot vinyl compound without the application of pressure, and hence a poor looking repair results.